A Plethora of Music
by ABetterKHFandom
Summary: A series of short Kingdom Hearts drabbles, all based on randomly selected songs. Rated T just to cover all the bases.
1. Sekai wa Kawaru

Hey! My name is Yamiko and you're reading my writing! The premise of these drabbles was a simple challenge:

1) Put your media player of choice (mine is iTunes) on shuffle.

2) Write down the first 20 songs that come up.

3) Write a drabble for each of them.

As they say, the last step's a doozy. Each drabble is separate from the others, and a few of them will be quite short.

So, that's all you need to know. Enjoy!

Song Drabble 1

Sekai wa Kawaru

"So," Sora was trying to sum up what he'd learned in the past five minutes, "this is all you do?"

"Well, jeez, it's not _all_ we do." The teen standing next to him was miffed, to say the least.

"But it's _mostly_ what you do."

"Well…" The teen considered this. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"Oi! Momo-chan-sempai!" A younger brown-haired teen called from inside the courts. "You promised to help me practice, remember?"

"Right!" Momo called back to him. "Be right there!" He turned back to Sora. "You want to see some good tennis, you should stick around." He grinned and pulled open the fence's door, striding in the court as if he owned it.

"Uh. Right." Sora's monosyllabic commentary trailed off lamely. "Tennis," he whispered to Donald and Goofy, who were hiding in a nearby bush and surprisingly unnoticed by all.

"Yeah, we heard," Donald groused. He was sitting on a twig and he was _sore_.

"Well, if that's it then…" Sora trailed off once again.

Nobody noticed when they left.


	2. The King of Broadway

Song Drabble 2

The King of Broadway

Sora wondered, not for the first time, what the heck was going on.

Although, in Halloween Town, he'd come to expect things like this.

It seemed that today, like every other time he'd come here, Jack was once again planning something (although thankfully, this time it had nothing to do with Christmas).

And, like every other time he'd come here, _something_ just wasn't working right and the entire plan was thrown off because of it.

"It's going to be wonderful, Sora!" Jack enthused, gesturing grandly. "Halloween Town has never had a real dance before! Sure, we've had celebrations, but never anything quite so grand as this!"

"But," in the blink of an eye, Jack became serious, "the problem is the zombies. Bless their undead hearts, but they have absolutely no sense of rhythm!"

"Although," suddenly he was pensive, "that could be _because_ of their undead hearts."

"Say…" He looked at Sora as if seeing him for the first time. "Sora. You have a heart, don't you?"

"Um, yeah…" Suddenly, Sora wasn't _quite_ sure he wanted to be involved with this particular plan of Jack's.

"And it's still beating, right?"

"Last time I checked." _What_ was Jack thinking?

"Fantastic!" Jack exclaimed, grabbing Sora's hands and twirling him in a circle. "Sally tells me a heartbeat is the best thing to dance to, and she'd know – she's the only one around here who has one!"

"So Sora –" Jack stopped spinning Sora and put his bony hands on Sora's shoulders, leaning down to his eye level. "- you simply must stay for the dance! We could certainly use you."

He topped his request off with a hopeful smile, and Sora couldn't help but smile back. It was so hard to turn him down when he looked so excited, and now that Sora knew nothing (too) funny was going to happen…well…

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Jack." Sora grinned.

"Oh, Sora, I knew you'd say yes!" Jack's smile spread to a grin to match Sora's and he straightened up. "Now we have so many things we need to do! We need to get the music – maybe Sally can come up with something – I wonder if the zombies can learn a two-step? Maybe if we work long enough…"

He headed off towards the forest, still thinking and planning aloud, with Sora trailing amusedly in his wake.


	3. One Two

Song Drabble 3

One Two

Las Vegas. City of lights. City of luck. City of ladies, and pretty ones at that. City of...

_City of drunken, destitute losers,_ he thought bitterly. _And I guess that makes me right at home._ He threw an empty beer bottle at the trash can opposite him, smirking halfheartedly at the raucous crash it created.

"If I could have any power," he declared to the empty alleyway, "it would be to control the dice."

"Is that so."

He jumped in surprise. What the flipping _hell?_ What happened to the alleyway being empty?

Because there certainly hadn't been a black-cloaked man standing next to him the last time he'd checked.

"Well, yes." After recovering himself, he decided to reply. If this guy wanted to make conversation, it was no skin off his nose. "Just lost thirty-two thousand dollars at craps. That wouldn't happen if I could control the dice."

The man whistled, leaning nonchalantly against the wall. "Damn, but that's a lot of money."

"Are you kidding?" He laughed bitterly. "That was just in this last round. I lost more at poker last night."

"Bet that wouldn't happen if you could control the cards, either," the man observed.

"No," he said slowly. "No, it wouldn't."

He couldn't see the man's sudden smirk under his hood, but he certainly felt it. After all, the hairs on the back of his neck tended to have a reason for standing at attention.

"Well," the man straightened up, and – hold on, where the hell had that weapon in his hand come from? – headed towards the Strip, "good luck with your cards and dice and stuff. Me, I've got a show of my own to start." He looked over his shoulder, green eyes suddenly flashing from the shadow of the hood. "Master of fireworks, you know." With that, he strode out into the bright lights of late-night Vegas and – disappeared.

Ludor blinked and got slowly to his feet. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? If they were, he certainly didn't find them humorous.

It was then that the explosions started. Amongst the screams of terrified gamblers and the roars of the dark creatures – why was he not surprised they had showed up? – attacking them, a long, triumphant laugh sounded.

A small creature with bright yellow eyes turned to regard Ludor.

Who grinned at it. "Well, come on then," he taunted the beast. "What are you waiting for?"

Moments before his death, he had never felt so alive.


	4. Grip

Song Drabble 4

Grip

It all started so innocently.

"Race you to that tree and back!"

"You're on!"

With Kairi marking the start, they took off, bolting for the first part of the route – the split.

Riku took the low road, sprinting across the sand towards the series of short platforms he'd need to climb. Sora took the high road, scrambling up the tower to reach the zip line. If he could just hold on this time, he'd be golden.

If he could just hold on…

Like every other time he'd tried this, his hand slipped.

_Thud_.

"Owwwwww…"

Flat on his back in the sand, it looked to Sora like Riku would be the one to share the paopu with Kairi after all.


	5. Kick the Can

Song Drabble 5

Kick the Can

It looked like

_Hide and go seek_

_Where is he?_

_In the bush? No_

_In the secret spot behind the rock_

Like it would be

_Tag_

_You're it_

_Runrunrun_

_Base!_

_We don't have a base_

_That's cheating_

_Not if I run faster_

Like fun.

_Sword fights_

_With_

_Little wooden swords_

_Jump dodge swingswingswing_

_Oh man! Now the score's 1 to 35!_

_C'mon, let's go again!_

But it would never

_Race_

_Runrunrun_

_Up the tree_

_Across the rope_

_Jump ledge to ledge_

_Touch the star and come back_

_Now the score's 1 to 36!_

_go again we're not done yet_

never be hers.

_Crayons to paper._

_Colors across the vast expanse of the page._

_And suddenly there were no longer three people there._

_There were four._

Except that maybe it could.


	6. Over

Song Drabble 6

Over

_Four._

He was the first, taken by one of his own.

_Twelve._

Ever loyal, her second meeting with the Keybearer would be her last.

_Five._

Silent and strong, he took on somebody stronger and came off the worse.

_Eleven._

Life was a chess match, his castle the board and all within it his pieces. He never expected two disobedient pawns to ruin his game.

_Six._

An Anansi in humanoid form, spinning webs of lies and trickery. He failed to notice even as they coiled about him, realizing his mistake only when the flies he'd caught had taken his life.

_Nine._

_Keep with the beat,_ he'd insisted, taunting the Keybearer. He was unprepared when the beat shifted and left him out of step.

_Three._

He went where he was not welcome. A strong-willed girl, a strong-minded beast, and a strong-hearted boy proved to be his end.

_Eight._

He finally knew who he was and what he wanted. All that was left to do was to go down in a blaze of glory.

And _nothing_ stopped him from getting what he wanted.

_Two._

_Traitor,_ he accused, casting blame onto somebody whom nobody knew was present. He then aimed – he was known for his aim – and shot to kill.

And missed.

After him, it was simply a matter of counting backwards.

_Ten._

He knew when to hold 'em and fold 'em, but walking away and running were not in his vocabulary. He stayed too long as the odds rose against him, and in his last desperate gamble, they fell.

_Seven._

He lost his heart to the Dark. He lost his mind to the Moon. He lost his life to the Key.

_One._

He pulled out all the stops, grasping at his plans, his goals, his ideals, even as they fell to bits about him. He threw everything he had at them, including the very fabric of his World That Never Was. And still they kept coming.

Relentless.

And when he had given everything he had, still they continued. They stopped when he had gone, forced to return to the darkness from whence he had come.

After him, it was over.

Or so they thought.


	7. Brand New Day

Song Drabble 7

Brand New Day

_I…I can't._

"What are you talking about? Of course you can."

_No, you don't understand. I can't._

"I know you. You can do anything."

_You must not know me that well if you think that._

"Oh, please. I've known you for how long now? How many years? I think I'd know you pretty well by now."

_I disagree._

"Harsh."

_You don't know where I've been these past years, what I've done…_

"So? That doesn't change our time together. I don't care if you've changed – I still know who you are."

_I told you I've changed._

"And I told you I don't care. Weren't you listening?"

_I…_

"What you are is my friend. You have been for a long time, and you still are. I don't care what your fight against the darkness has done to you; it hasn't changed any of what I just said."

_…_

"And I would help you fight if you would just let me."

_…why?_

"Because you're my friend, that's why."

_No, I mean...why haven't you given up on me yet?_

"Because tomorrow's a new day. Tomorrow's always a new day. I know you want to take them all, to live them all.

"And I want to be with you when you do it."


	8. Glory Days

Song Drabble 8

Glory Days

It had all been so easy.

All he'd had to do was let that naïve little brat and his witless friends gad about from world to world, ripping through Heartless after Heartless, leaving their priceless bounty behind while they gallivanted off elsewhere to repeat the process.

He followed behind them, silently, relying on the ever-present shadows to cloak his presence as he collected the innumerable hearts left behind and added them to his kingdom.

Things had gotten even better when his own Heartless had gotten involved. Now the Keybearer's "problem" had a name and he had pursued it blindly, oblivious to the consequences of his actions.

And when that Heartless was destroyed, it was quite an addition to the kingdom.

The problems had started with Castle Oblivion and the decision to become directly involved with the Keybearer. The rift within the Organization had grown deeper with the betrayals within and destruction of that castle.

That problem had spiraled downward, going from bad to worse to hopeless with each new world the Key touched. His plans frayed at the ends and began to unravel. Fellow members fell one by one to the Key, until there was only him, preparing himself to make a final desperate stand for a half-destroyed kingdom, and all he could think was –

It had all been so easy,


	9. Deeper

Song Drabble 9

Deeper

_The door is still shut._

Where am I?

What is this?

(colors beneath his feet against the black above his head)

_There will be times when you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong._

These…these _things_!

What are they?

Where did they come from?

Is this what I have to fight?

(black shadow creatures running around his feet bulbous yellow eyes rolling sharp claws coming for his flesh his heart)

_The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes._

Oh…oh, my…

What _is_ that?!

I have to fight that thing?!

Is that…me?

(great hulking monster before him glowing yellow eyes stare stare stare key in his hands slashing striking take the beast)

_But don't be afraid. And don't forget…_

Wait! What is this?

I thought this would be done when I beat the monster!

No!

Stop!

Somebody help me!

(darkness before him darkness behind him falling falling can't see can't breathe can't think can't move can't feel…can't feel…)

_You are the one who will open the door._


	10. Sleep All Day

Song Drabble 10

Sleep All Day

Sora yawned, awakening to the red rays of the sun in his eyes. He sat up slowly on the beach, lazily shaking sand out of his hair. Man, what _time_ was it?

He looked out to the ocean to see the sun hovering just above the horizon. Sunset.

He'd come down here before noon. He must have been more tired than he'd thought.

Ah, well. He lay down and settled back into the sand. It wasn't as though he had anything he needed to do.

Smiling slightly, he reached out and found Kairi sleeping peacefully to one side of him and Riku stretched out in the sand on the other.

He took their hands gently in his and closed his eyes.

That's right, he thought. Nothing to do at all.


	11. The 13th Dilemma

Song Drabble 11

The 13th Dilemma

_"Roxas, right?"_

_"Hey, Roxas!"_

_"Roxas!"_

_"Roxas!"_

Sora jerked awake. Gasping for breath, he glanced wildly around the room. _'What – Where –" _

It took several long seconds for his disorientation to fade. He was in Merlin's spare room, sleeping on a mattress laid out on the floor. When was the last time he'd had a full night's sleep?

He found he couldn't answer that question. He just didn't know.

That was probably why he was having these nightmares.

He didn't even know who this Roxas guy _was_. It was just a name the Organization kept calling him. You'd think, for a bunch of villains, they'd be smarter than that.

"But I'm not," he murmured, rolling over and beginning to drift once again to sleep. "I'm not Roxas."

Muffled by exhaustion and slowed by the onset of sleep, he nearly missed the quiet reply.

_I know._


	12. Awesome Man

Song Drabble 12

Awesome Man

"My mom asked me something weird today."

"Really?" Sora asked. "What'd she say?"

"She asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up," Riku replied, as though the importance of this question was too much for his eight-year-old brain to comprehend.

"That's easy!" Sora jumped to his feet. "I want to be a superhero!"

"You? A superhero?" Riku quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Encouraged by Kairi's smile and giggle, Sora continued on. "I'd have a really cool weapon and I'd go around and save the world! You know, all that superhero stuff!"

Now even Riku was laughing. "Yeah," he managed. "Yeah.

"Like that'd ever happen."


	13. You Can't Stop the Beat

Song Drabble 13

You Can't Stop the Beat

Demyx grinned. This wing of the castle was empty. Nobody was around – the grin got bigger, that unexpected pun totally worked – it was the perfect time to indulge himself in his music.

Out came the sitar.

He tuned it absentmindedly, shuffling through the multitude of tunes in his mental musical library to find the one he really wanted to hear. He finally settled on one he'd heard a scant few days ago. Bumming around a world where music was the central form of entertainment really did have its perks.

_"You can't stop the river,"_ he started – he had an odd habit of beginning in the middle of a song, but really, why shouldn't he? – _"As it rushes to the sea…"_

He spun the sitar and began to dance along with the song that coursed through him, keeping quick time with a very infectious 4/4 beat. _"I was lost 'til I heard the drums, then I found my way…"_

Caught up in the music coursing through his body, he failed to notice he had company.

_"But you cannot stop the rhythm of two hearts in lo-"_

Even absorbed in the music as he was, Demyx wasn't oblivious enough to miss the flaming chakram suddenly embedded in the wall inches from his face. He froze, then turned slowly to face an infuriated Axel standing almost a dozen yards away.

"Get it through your waterlogged head," he growled dangerously. "_We. Don't. Have. Hearts._" He recalled the chakram to his hand and stalked off to other parts, leaving heated air shimmering in his wake.

Demyx sighed disappointedly. Well, there went yet another song. Sooner or later, he vowed, he'd find something he could sing in the castle without getting himself killed.

Sooner or later.


	14. Spiders and Snakes

Song Drabble 14

Spiders and Snakes

He saw it his second time through. After all, it was easy to miss the snake's dead body amongst the rest of the greenery (which was very much alive, and dangerous to boot).

Its head had been crushed. Boot heel, he guessed.

Well. When the time came, that certainly wouldn't be him. He'd make sure of it.

But until then…

He glanced once again at the small body, then provided a quick impromptu cremation – a favor for a fallen comrade, he supposed.

"Next time," he murmured inaudibly as he left the deadly garden, "don't get caught."


	15. 511another

Song Drabble 15

5.1.1.(another)

What…what _were_ these things?

Roxas regarded the white figures floating around him with suspicion and more than a little apprehension. They obviously weren't going to sit down and talk things out nicely with him, and the struggle bat in his hand had proven to be completely useless.

A sharp _chink_ drew his attention away from the creatures and to that selfsame struggle bat. Streams of green numbers circled repeatedly around it, causing it to glow white. Another sharp _chink_ signaled the end of the change. In his hand rested a large silver key.

He was left with no time to ponder its origins or ownership. He could only use it to defend against, and then to attack, the white creatures.


	16. Adelaide's Lament

Song Drabble 16

Adelaide's Lament

"He just won't tell me!" the girl wailed, whipping the feather boa off her neck with an overly dramatic flourish and depositing it onto a nearby chair.

"Well," Kairi followed behind her, trying not to openly gawk at the some of the absolutely racy outfits lying about the dressing room, "sit him down and ask him."

"I tried that!" the older woman continued with her melodramatics. "Every time I make him sit down and talk to me, he makes some excuse, gets up, and runs off!"

"And that is why," she plopped down into a chair and began to fan herself with – was that a fan? It looked like a peacock tail. This woman certainly had a thing for feathers – a mass of feathers, "we've been engaged for fourteen years and never married."

Kairi smiled inwardly. She certainly knew how hard it was to get a guy to commit. "Well, keep trying," she advised. "But let him take his time. Don't worry, he'll figure it out."

She sniffled. "You really think so?"

"I know so," Kairi assured her. "Believe me, I know so."


	17. I Finally Found Someone

Song Drabble 17

I Finally Found Someone

He took a deep breath, holding the little black box tightly in his hand. Slowly, he pushed the door open.

"Minnie?"

She looked up from her book and smiled. "Yes?"

Oh boy.

"Well, uh…y'see…"

And he'd thought being king was hard.

"Now that I'm king, I…I may need some, uh…y'know, some help."

_Nothing_ could ever be as hard as this.

"So I, uh…I want you to be my queen."

That was it. There it was.

And…

"So what do ya say?"

Her embrace and her kiss were all the answer he needed.


	18. Yellow Submarine

Song Drabble 18

Yellow Submarine

Sora sighed and slumped into the gummi ship's pilot seat. "That was…"

"Interestin'," Goofy offered, taking his own seat.

"Actually, I was thinking more like "really weird.'"

"Where _were_ we?" Donald groused.

"Good question." Sora leaned back and stared at the ceiling as if it held all the answers.

That world had certainly been…well, the only word for it was _bizarre_. It had reminded Sora of Wonderland when they'd first arrived – plants and flowers everywhere, intense colors, and an inherent loopy quality that had him thinking that anything at all could happen and made him believe it would.

Things got absolutely crazy when the world's inhabitants showed up. They all sang. And danced. And played instruments. And did _nothing else_. It was like being stuck in a musical.

And there wasn't any Heartless or Nobody problem at all. Sure, the people told him – sang to him, actually – about things called Blue Meanies, but evidently they'd been defeated by those selfsame people singing at them.

Which, now that Sora thought about it, wasn't really all that surprising.

All in all, the whole experience had a surreal quality that made Sora question whether he'd been dreaming, and if he had been, what he'd eaten before falling asleep.

"So," Sora said experimentally, testing the conversational atmosphere in the gummi ship. "They seemed…happy."

"Yup," Goofy agreed. "In fact, they were so happy they didn't need our help at all!"

Donald finally caught on. "So we really shouldn't stay in their world any longer than we have to."

"Exactly." Sora turned the ship around and shot it out of that world just as fast as it would go.

There was, he reflected, such a thing as too much happy.


	19. Two Pina Coladas

Song Drabble 19

Two Piña Coladas

He grinned as he saw his compatriot approaching. "I knew you'd come."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." The newcomer took a seat on the beach next to his friend. "Any of them."

"Right." The first picked up a glass from where it had been propped in the sand and handed it to the new arrival. "You may as well enjoy yourself while you're here."

The newcomer took the glass and swirled its contents, raising an eyebrow at the strong scent they produced: overwhelmingly coconut, with sharp undercurrents of –

He blinked. "This is alcohol."

"It's called a piña colada," the first replied. "They're pretty popular down here."

"Since when have you done anything popular?"

"Since I've liked it." The first picked up his own glass and downed half the contents in one long swallow. He licked his lips contentedly. "You have to admit, they're pretty damn good."

The other took a sip of his own and made a face. "It's _sweet_."

"It's made of coconut," the first snickered. "What did you expect?"

"Considering you're the one who gave it to me? Something with a bite," the other retorted.

The first laughed. "Fair enough." He swirled his drink and took another sip. The two fell into silence, nursing their drinks and losing themselves in their thoughts.

Finally, the first one broke the reverie. "Why did you come?"

The second looked up. "What?"

"Why did you come here?" the first repeated, staring into his drink as though it held all the answers. "I mean, I knew you would, but still…why?"

"Because I said I would," the second replied simply.

The first blinked. "It's not that simple."

"Yes, it is," the second insisted. "I made you a promise and I kept it. Simple as that."

"Hunh." The first swirled his drink, feeling the beginnings of a smile creep upon his face. "Well then." He raised his glass to the setting sun. "To the next life."

"Isn't that this life?" Roxas asked, mirroring the gesture.

"So it is," Axel laughed. "So it is."

They toasted to life, one another, and life once more, and settled back to watch the sun set off the beaches of Oahu.


	20. Everywhere Man

Song Drabble 20

Everywhere Man

_It'll be easy._

Well, Sora reflected, that was certainly easy for Riku to say. Goodness knew he wasn't scared of anything (or when he was, he certainly didn't tell anybody).

_Oh, come on, Sora! It'll be fun!_

He stared in slight trepidation up at the giant building. Even with Kairi's presence, it was still intimidating.

_It doesn't matter whether you want to or not, young man, you still have to go._

Thank you, Mom.

Sora sighed. He'd been everywhere, from the desert to the depths of the sea to cyberspace to the very spirit of a holiday to a world that didn't even exist. None of that mattered right now, though – nothing could have prepared him for what he would now face.

High school.


End file.
